In this post-Aron Ralston/127 Hours world, every extreme adventurer will want to carry both an iPhone or an iPod Touch and this Spot Connect, which connects you to the Globalstar satellite phone network. Y'know, unless you want your outdoor adventure to literally cost an arm or a leg!
Spot Connect works via an iPhone app that lets you send text messages, even something as simple as an "I'm okay" reassurance sent simultaneously via Twitter and Facebook as well as directly to your worried peeps' phones. It also tracks your path so you don't need to bring bread crumbs, using GPS to accurately pinpoint your position to within 21 feet, and it's waterproof up one meter for half an hour.
About the size of a hockey puck (3 x 2.6 x 1.2 inches, 3.7 ounces), the Spot Connect also connects to the GEOS International Emergency Response Coordination Center (IERCC) just in case, even if you can't get a precise GPS fix. It'll connect you for up to five days in SOS mode (for EIRCC) — which works even if your cell phone batteries are kaput — and 11 days in stand-by on just a pair of AA lithium batteries. One presumes you'll pack some spare batteries in order not to have to cut off your right arm, but in short this thing could save you a lot of hardship.
It'll go on sale later this month for $170, with a $100 per year subscription for the satellite phone connection.
Via Spot Connect